If you’ve read China Bayles’ latest mystery, Hemlock, you may be curious about Elizabeth Blackwell, the author of The Curious Herbal andthe main character in my historical novel-within-a-novel.
So was I. Curious, that is–because I love using true stories as the basis of fiction. And this part of my story is true—as true as historians are able to make it.
What we know about the book. Elizabeth Blackwell began compiling A Curious Herbal in 1735, in London. To produce it, she studied important medicinal plants in the Chelsea Physic Garden; drew them from life in an unprecedented detail; and engraved the drawings on copper plates. She arranged to have them printed and released in weekly installments, each one made up of four plant pictures and a page of descriptive text. She sold the installments, some hand-colored, many by subscription, through booksellers, apothecaries, and street-sellers in London and the major cities. When all 125 installments had been issued, she had the pages bound and sold as a 500-plate, two-volume set. It was a masterful achievement for anyone–and especially for a woman at a time when few women had the skill or the confidence to undertake such a massive attempt.
Herbals had long been a staple of botanical and medical libraries. Over 5,000 years before, the medicinal uses of plants were recorded on papyrus and clay tablets in ancient Egypt, Samaria, and China. In 1500 BCE, an Egyptian text documented over 700 herbal remedies. Then around 65 BCE, a Greek doctor named Dioscorides compiled De Materia Medica, which served as the standard reference work on medicinal plants in both Christian and Islamic worlds. In England, during the last years of the reign of Elizabeth I, John Girard published his Herball (1597). That work was followed by John Parkinson’s herbals and in 1652 by Nicholas Culpeper’s The English Physician.
But Elizabeth’s remarkable work is different from all those before her. It is primarily remembered for the photographic accuracy of her copper-plate engravings, a radical departure from the stylized woodcuts that illustrated previous herbals. They weren’t much help if you were wondering whether the volunteer at the foot of your garden was parsley or poison hemlock.
A Curious Herbal is also remembered its curiously unique raison d’être. After failing in a reckless business enterprise (not his first, apparently), Elizabeth’s husband Alexander was sent to debtor’s prison. A Curious Herbal earned the money to bail him out.
What we know about Elizabeth. Elizabeth Blackwell was born around 1710 (a best guess) in Aberdeen, the daughter of a successful Scots stocking merchant. She fell in love with her second cousin, Alexander Blackwell, the brilliant son of a university professor. Alexander, who was always looking for a way to get ahead in the world, went to Germany to study with a noted physician. Back home in Scotland, he set himself up as a physician—but without the necessary formal credentials. Rejected by the Aberdeen medical community, Alexander packed up and departed for London. Elizabeth, not yet twenty and against her parents’ wishes, went with him, and they were married.
While Elizabeth settled in as a wife and (soon) the mother of two young children, Alexander reinvented himself. A student of languages, he became a “corrector”–a proofreader–in a print shop. Then, growing impatient, he set himself up in business as a printer, probably with Elizabeth’s dowry. Again, there was trouble, for he had impatiently skipped the obligatory four-year apprenticeship required by the powerful Printers Guild. The Guild shut him down and fined him heavily. He was forced to declare bankruptcy. Penniless, he was hauled off to Newgate until his creditors were satisfied.
That’s when Elizabeth picked up her drawing pen and went to work. She had made several powerful friends among Scottish doctors practicing in London. She used those connections to gain the support of Sir Hans Sloane, whose collections served as the foundation of the British Museum, and Isaac Rand, a botanist and gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden, which you can still visit today. She and her two young children (both died in the next year or two) moved into a house at Number 4 Swan Walk, across the street from the garden’s gate. She worked hard and methodically, used her wits and her connections, and within less than three years, she had paid off Alexander’s debts.
But Elizabeth’s story doesn’t end there. She had made a name for herself in the medical community and appears to have found a viable career as a midwife. Alexander, ever the impulsive adventurer, went his own reckless way, hiring on as a estate manage for the Duke of Chandos, and then going to Sweden, where he managed to corner quite a few royal favors and some notoriety for his doings. He got involved in a mysterious court intrigue and was beheaded in 1747. Elizabeth, having earned her financial independence, did not remarry. She lived on in Chelsea until her death, in 1758. She is remembered with a plaque in the Chelsea Church. 
There’s much more here about this intriguing book and its author. And for my take on the talented Elizabeth, the unscrupulous Alexander, and their fascinating story, you can read Hemlock.
I live in Canada, but our library is well stocked with tons of novels from North Carolina writers and I enjoyed every one of them. My cousins live in North Carolina, but I have never been there. It is amazing how many great novels come from North Carolina writers. I love the name Carolina because that is my mom’s name haha. I would love to visit one day and try all the good cooking.
I just finished reading Hemlock, loved it, what a story ! Elizabeth Blackwell’s life, devotion to her useless husband etc. I admire her for her effort to help her husband, and how it happened that through all that she created a fabulous Herbal. As it often happens in life a lost cause it often a beginning of some new great project. I also cook a thick soup like Chicken and Slicks, but it is German gumbo called Eingemahtes Supe. My grandma and mom all my aunts made it in Croatia, as our cuisine is Austro-Hungarian. They also made square flat noodles that looked like ravioli dough cut with zig zag roller cutter. It is one of my favorite soups. I put parsnips and potatoes too. I really liked how the author incorporated the story of Blackwell, Sunny and China’s investigative talent, and even the life of parrots and ghosts haha.
Read Dead Man’s Bones first then saw it was part of a series. Started from the beginning last June and I pick up Hemlock tomorrow ! Just love every book but so far Queen Anne’s Lace is my favorite. Looking forward to reading Hemlock and learning about Elizabeth Blackwell myself !!
I just finished Hemlock, it was a bit slow going to begin with for me, BUT, I loved the content, and as a person interested in old ways of medicine, I am astounded. The amount of work she did, in a short time, the dedication to her marital vows, and a creep, makes her a true hero! I live near Syracuse, where another famous Elizabeth Blackwell became one of the first female doctors. I can’t help but wonder if they are related. Your biographical information seems more accurate than some of the others I have read by googling her name
Thank you for your lovely story, few alive today know the intricacy of copper plate printing.
Just finished reading Hemlock, and enjoyed it. Especially liked that you include a table of contents – so many novels now omit them. Also liked the page trim on the pages of Elizabeth Blackwell’s story. I have never heard of chicken and slicks, although chicken and dumplings around here in north Florida and in the mountains of western North Carolina where I spend summers have flat dumplings that are like pie crust cut into wide “noodles”. They can also be made from flour tortillas cut up. They are not really “slick” because some of the flour comes off and thickens the chicken broth. I never thought of them like soup, but more like a stew. The best I have had are at the Cracker Barrel restaurants found at almost every freeway interchange.
Enjoyed Hemlock as I have your other books about China Bayles. At first I had trouble realizing that Elizabeth Blackwell wasn’t the first woman doctor as that was what the name meant to me.
I truly enjoyed learning about A Curious Herbal and how it came about. Thank you for teaching us things about herbs and how important they have been throughout the years. I think I might actually try making slicks as they intrigue me.
Delightful–thanks for the link!
Love those masks at Fine Art America! May have to add to my collection! I ordered the ones i spoke of at https://chelsea-physic-garden-shop.myshopify.com/collections/face-masks
They accepted my US visa card and converted the pounds to US dollars with no problem. The items are due this week!
Those masks are here https://fineartamerica.com/shop/face+masks/chelsea+flower+show if anybody’s curious about them. Interesting! And yes, Alexander was a serious rogue with zero respect for other people’s rights. Dumping her dowry into a sure-fail print business and putting his name on somebody else’s book were just two of his many crimes.
Thank you! I have to confess that, for a while, I’ve been wanting to put China on a challenging road in a blizzard–which would be an unusual scene in a Pecan Springs book. Another reason to send her to North Carolina. 🙂
Seriously considering her, Mary. She’s a temptation, if only because of that wonderful physic garden and the huge contemporary interest in plant medicines–especially new plants coming in from the New World. She was right in the middle of all that.
Elizabeth Blackwell is surely a fascinating and talented woman. Any chance you might put her on your list of future subjects?
Just finished reading “Hemlock” and adored it, especially the story-within-a-story. The information on hemlocks and the herbal was riveting! I did wonder at China’s bravery, driving those switchbacks, especially in the snow. I would have been completely freaked out. Anyway, this novel touched all my hot buttons. I didn’t want it to end.
Please think about writing that historical novel (as a stand alone) about Elizabeth Blackwell also!
Thanks, Laurel–typo corrected. Didn’t mean to malign Dioscorides . . .
“…around 65 BCE, a Greed doctor named Dioscorides…” I’ve known some unscrupulous people, but I’m not too sure about Dioscorides. Thanks for all your work through the years! I can always count on a new Pecan Springs story coming up.
Ahh the things we humans will do for love! One wonders if the art and publications would ever have been completed at all, if it weren’t for the need to get the blighter husband out of the clink? Bright though he may have been, he certainly seemed to be burning his candle at both ends. Rather amazing he didn’t run off with some of Elizabeth’s work to build up his own fortune. To think of what she accomplished in her 48 year long life, is astonishing.
And then there is Susan Wittig Albert, who with this post has me ordering up a new floral face mask and carry-all from the Chelsea Physic Garden. So looking forward to Hemlock!
I’ve read all the China stories and thoroughly enjoyed them! I like the ones set in Pecan Springs but also get a kick out of seeing her in different places and around new characters.
North Carolina’s hemlock forest is so beautiful–and so tragically threatened. I hope something can be done to save those magnificent trees.
Just finished Hemlock and loved it! As a native of NC, I loved your depictions of our beautiful mountains and their hardy folks.
Thank you for noticing the way the stories fit together, Chris. That was an interesting challenge. I first thought of writing a standalone historical novel about Elizabeth–a wonderful character in her own right. But I also wanted to extend the China Bayles series, and I had the beginnings of a plot idea around hemlock. I very much like what Geraldine Brooks did with People of the Book, and I thought of that strategy. But then I had the idea of treating Elizabeth’s story as a novel, and introducing it via the novel’s author. That felt right, and when Jenna showed up with her draft manuscript, it all began to fit together.
This isn’t China’s first out-of-town adventure. Rueful Death, Blood Root, Wormwood, Widow’s Tears, Bittersweet, and Last Chance Olive Ranch all take place outside of Pecan Springs.
Thank you, Carolyn–glad you enjoyed it. Those online resources provide a wonderful background for the book. How lucky we are to have them! (Someday soon, I’ll try to do a blog post that will pull all that material together.)
I very much enjoyed “Hemlock”–I got it the first day it was available so that I’d have something interesting to read on our trip to the Texas coast. I loved learning about Elizabeth Blackwell and thought you wove her story into the main story so well. I also appreciate the links to different resources. The China Bayles series just keeps getting better and better.
Yay! Thanks Susan
You are correct – I read about the American doctor.
I read the book as soon as it was delivered to my mailbox. Loved every page, thenI loaned it to my daughter, but I will read it again when it comes back! Thank you, too, for the link to the British Museum. The Herbal is a really beautiful book!
Yes, devastating–but sadly unsurprising. In 1700, the child mortality rate was nearly 35%. She had another son after she bailed her husband out of gaol, but his fate is unclear.
Peg, you may be thinking of the other Elizabeth Blackwell, the deservedly-famous 19th-century female physician: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/elizabeth-blackwell
The O’Keeffe needlework (“Red Cannas”) is coming along–a little slowly, because I’m eyebrow-deep in the research for a book about her and her friend Maria Chabot, the woman who built the Abiquiu house. Just posted a photo of the cross stitch over on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susan.w.albert
In Cincinnati there is Lloyd Library which has many herbal books and is fascinating to visit. Check it out on line sometime.
Thank you for that question, Christine! Yes, Sotheby’s recently closed the bidding on a first edition, printed for Elizabeth by Samuel Harding and valued at $40-60,00. https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2016/fine-books-manuscripts-n09588/lot.52.html . (Wouldn’t Elizabeth be astonished?)
And several years ago, a battered copy of a 1757 German edition showed up on the Antiques Road Show.https://video.houstonpbs.org/video/appraisal-1757-elizabeth-blackwell-herbal-1e3qqc/ The appraisal of $10-15k might be a little high, but any extant copy is likely to be quite valuable.
Elizabeth Blackwell’s life story was the first biography I read as a young girl. Can’t wait for HEMLOCK – my ebook should land from the library this week. And by the way, how is your Georgia O’Keeffe needlework coming along? Do you have an plans to write about her life? She is a fascinating historical artist. We love all of the genres in which you write. 🌼
Do any copies of A Curious Herbal still exist?
Just finishing the new book! I am fascinated by the stories of hemlock and Queen Anne’s lace. How devastating that Elizabeth lost both her children.